PDA

View Full Version : Favorite tools while gaming/DMing? [Any]



Christopher K.
2011-02-03, 10:51 PM
Pretty much what it says in the title. Does anybody have any favorite tools(programs or physical) they use for tabletop gaming?

Personally, I'm fond of the old Character Builder for 4e for the player side and Evernote for DMing, though I've only really scratched the surface of the latter. (I just got Compendium access again and the plugin to copy information from a webpage directly into a new note). I also have a notebook stashed away with hard copies of all my notes for DMing.

Scorpions__
2011-02-03, 10:58 PM
Clothespins that I've written the names of the players on. At the start of any encounter, I just gather everyone's initiative count, and order the clothespins accordingly along the top of my DM screen, voila, no initiative arguments.

I'm also very fond of my laminated battle grids which can be written on and cleaned seemingly endless times with wet-erase markers.

And I'm rather fond of miniatures... what?





DM[F]R

arguskos
2011-02-03, 11:02 PM
I play 3.5 almost exclusively, and as a life-time DM, I've found I very frequently need access to tables of random crap all the time. Thus, the best book I've ever purchased: Toolbox, by AEG. It's 200+ pages of random tables. It wins at everything forever, hands down. :smallamused:

I'm addicted to my DM screen. I don't even know why. I just am.

An endless supply of notebooks and journals, all of which eventually end up shanghai'd for D&D purposes and random concepts I produce as I go throughout my day. Mostly, the act of writing a thing down is great for me.

rayne_dragon
2011-02-03, 11:27 PM
Cake. It helps me think. :smallbiggrin:

On a more serious note, dungeon tile type things and minis are something that I always like to have handy. Even if I don't need them, they're really good at giving everyone a visual so that nobody is confused as to the location of stuff.

Akal Saris
2011-02-04, 12:00 AM
The Online SRD and its built-in diceroller (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm) has made my life much easier.

Techsmart
2011-02-04, 12:24 AM
my favorite thing to use is a set of initiative cards . Not only do i use them to track initiative, it also quickly gives me a view of the party's status without asking them, it also allows me to make spot checks and such without raising a red flag, and prepare dungeons accordingly.

I also second the use of tons of pre-generated tables. I will go through an 8-hour session making everything off of the top of my head. Even then, I will sometimes have a bit of a mental block. Dropping a couple percentiles can help get everything going again.

Aidan305
2011-02-04, 04:39 AM
Pen, paper, and a science notebook.

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-04, 04:54 AM
Okay, lemme go through the list...

My laptop. It's just so convenient. :smallamused:

Ignorance. Okay, this isn't a physical tool, but keeping the players in the dark generally makes them treat things a lot more seriously, which really helps the ambience of the game, particularly in a game with any horror elements.

A markerboard and some dry-erase markers can also be very convenient.

ryzouken
2011-02-04, 04:56 AM
clear plastic plates, roughly 5"x8". Useful for marking temporary info like monster hp, status effects, etc. I use two of them that have magnets top and bottom so they snap together. I also use them as a player, in which case I slap my char sheet in between them and use it to mark changes in my basic stats RIGHT ON TOP of the stat. Cleanup at session end is as easy as a quick trot to the faucet, mid game I use paper towel and a wet rag.


Clear dice boxes. Y'know, the packaging from every set of dice you've bought at a gamestore? Works great for flight stands.

I'm yoinking the initiative clothespins...

Eldan
2011-02-04, 05:16 AM
Mmm..

Dice?

Seriously, though. Little note cards I used to pass on secret messages to players. It's great to create some paranoia as well.

Also, I always need a list of premade names. Usually sorted in sections, such as "short names", "nicknames", "overblown noble names", "outsider names", "dwarven names". Otherwise, I'll just sit there for a few minutes like a deer in a headlight and blink a few times if asked what someone's name is.

The most useful skills, for a DM, in my opinion, are being able to lie convincingly and to pull details out of thin air when asked about your lie. I'm a pretty good liar, actually. Just ask my little brother.

The US has a king (he just rarely speaks publically, he's very old), the tree octopus really exists (the pacific rainforest is very moist, so they wet their gills by rubbing them against the moss on the trees), the moon is made of silver (the astronauts brougth some back. Actually, once they made the olympic medals out of moon silver the astronauts brought, those are still priced collector's items).

Coidzor
2011-02-04, 05:24 AM
I rather liked the use of the rings from the caps of bottles (the lower part that breaks off from the cap when the seal is broken and the bottle is first opened) as markers for when a creature was bloodied, marked by this or that defender or otherwise had a status effect active on it in the brief experience I had with Living Forgotten Realms and 4th Edition D&D.

dsmiles
2011-02-04, 05:43 AM
1st: @Rayne Dragon - The cake is a lie.:smalltongue:
2nd: 3x5 note cards. As a DM I love to pass notes. Also, AEG's Toolbox is a favorite for me, too.

Kaww
2011-02-04, 05:57 AM
Books, with 'Returning' property

Online calculators, when I have stuff to calculate

Paranoia is a great tool if you know how to use it

bokodasu
2011-02-04, 06:32 AM
I found some gridded posterboard, and cut it up to make a bunch of templates - large, huge, gargantuan, 40'-radius, etc. They're hugely useful (no, THAT dinosaur is gargantuan, this one over HERE is colossal.)

Coidzor
2011-02-04, 07:19 AM
I found some gridded posterboard, and cut it up to make a bunch of templates - large, huge, gargantuan, 40'-radius, etc. They're hugely useful (no, THAT dinosaur is gargantuan, this one over HERE is colossal.)

I don't think I'm quite getting what you use 'em for, are you saying that they're mostly visual aids for how big something is (or for showing a spell's radius on the battlegrid to determine who is within the area of effect)? Markers for non-mini'd creatures? Blank dungeon tiles for shaping the battlespace?

valadil
2011-02-04, 09:18 AM
Dropbox. I can view or edit my long term notes as long as I'm at a computer. And I have complete access to these notes on my phone, which is great if the players go off in a direction I wasn't ready for.

LansXero
2011-02-04, 09:32 AM
Dropbox. I can view or edit my long term notes as long as I'm at a computer. And I have complete access to these notes on my phone, which is great if the players go off in a direction I wasn't ready for.

Also neat for sharing stuff with several people at the same time and get their changes back.

Ive recently begun using SpellGen for NPCs/ players and it eases down spell selection so much :D

And these, too:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2739526/TGM_Dragon_Green-9.jpg

valadil
2011-02-04, 09:52 AM
Also neat for sharing stuff with several people at the same time and get their changes back.


?!

:smallbiggrin:

I didn't even know about that option. So you're saying all I have to do is invite collaborators into a folder and now my players won't have to email me their character sheets so I can save them in dropbox?

LansXero
2011-02-04, 09:54 AM
?!

:smallbiggrin:

I didn't even know about that option. So you're saying all I have to do is invite collaborators into a folder and now my players won't have to email me their character sheets so I can save them in dropbox?

Invite them to a shared folder, which will exist for them locally. They can open the file, save it, and it will auto-update for everyone sharing the folder. And so on.

Lord Loss
2011-02-04, 10:15 AM
I'll sometimes use Minis (and the giagantic graph paper that goes iwth it) for running combat encounters. I used to rely on them for every combat, now we just use them for very large/important fights.

I'll bring assorted props sometimes, like tarnished paper for notes and whatnot or, if they find damaged manuscripts, I'll do the same and rip bits off in order to provide some of the message, but not all of it.

I also use music, which has mixed appreciation depending what I want to put on. One of my players loved the Nox Aracana soundtrack I bought for our sorta-CoC game (I made my own system instead of buying the game :smallcool:), my players all HATED the youtube playlist I made for another of our games.

Zherog
2011-02-04, 10:18 AM
For those who like Toolbox (an awesome book), allow me to recommend two other books: PC Pearls and GM Gems. (full disclosure: I co-wrote both products.) Both books are similar, in that they have tables, but there's a bit more description behind some of the entries.

*

As for tools I use...

I also make use of the clear plastic dice boxes, as mentioned by ryzouken.

I have a large selection of minis, some that I got from a case of D&D minis and others that my wife painted.

I use the GameMastery Combat Pad for tracking init and other stuff.

Finally, I love my spell templates. The ones I have were made by a company called Steel Squire, but looking on Paizo's site, I see they also have the same thing.

edit:


I'll bring assorted props sometimes, like tarnished paper for notes and whatnot or, if they find damaged manuscripts, I'll do the same and rip bits off in order to provide some of the message, but not all of it.


I've made "parchment" before, for this sort of thing and it was well received by the players.

Thorcrest
2011-02-04, 10:28 AM
The US has a king (he just rarely speaks publically, he's very old), the tree octopus really exists (the pacific rainforest is very moist, so they wet their gills by rubbing them against the moss on the trees), the moon is made of silver (the astronauts brougth some back. Actually, once they made the olympic medals out of moon silver the astronauts brought, those are still priced collector's items).

I knew it! I knew it! You sir, have succeeded your bluff check!


Now Back to topic...

As both Player and DM, I like to have a battle grid with miniatures whenever there is a room with some odd features or if the description given is bad... I don't need them, but I find them useful! I've noticed that their valure increases exponentially for every hour after midnight that we continue to play! :smallbiggrin::smalltongue:

As a DM, I LOVE my laptop! I can have my adventure files open, my books, my monsters up, NPC stats, names... it's great!

Spreadsheets are my best friend! Something I started doing was creating initative tables. I put most possible values (-10 to 30. Yes, I have a character with a -10 initative modifier) along the side and then have all my players roll about 30 initative rolls and insert them into the table right at the beginning of the campaign, this means that I don't need to worry about anybody rolling initative for several sessions, except for opponents, and there is no cheating as they are saved on my computer!

bokodasu
2011-02-04, 10:34 AM
I don't think I'm quite getting what you use 'em for, are you saying that they're mostly visual aids for how big something is (or for showing a spell's radius on the battlegrid to determine who is within the area of effect)? Markers for non-mini'd creatures? Blank dungeon tiles for shaping the battlespace?

Actually, all of the above, but mostly the first. It's really handy when you're dealing with animal growth/enlarge person/expansion, or when you only have the large green dragon fig, but you're facing a colossal green dragon. Slap a template under them - now they take up the right number of squares and you don't have people running under their feet or arguments about who gets an AoO when. And every once in awhile, a battle will go "off the board" and you can use the colossal ones to fill in extra space without having to move the entire battle back onto the mat.

Which reminds me, I need to make some for my half-giant psywar to show her threat ranges. Expansion tricks are fun, but I always miss my AoOs.

Christopher K.
2011-02-04, 10:44 AM
Yes! I completely forgot to mention my laptop! 4e's books are great reads, but when you're running combat, bookmarking and pawing through the books is a pain.

Also, I'm probably going to steal the initiative tracking clothespins idea. :smallwink:

Now, for a fun tool that I found(but havne't had a chance to use): A mail sorter. I'd have to put a blanket or something over it to prevent spoilers, but I could store minis for each encounter I've got planned in a separate cubby and simply pull them out when the encounter starts, or keep copies of the PCs' character sheets(since they tend to lose them anyhow). The only problem is how mind-numbingly bulky it'd be.. :smalleek:

LansXero
2011-02-04, 10:48 AM
http://rpgmarketplace.com/111190,auction_id,item_watch,option,auction_detail s
Forgot to add this one. +x magic items always seemed very boring to me, and this book helped me create a bunch of character-relevant, interesting items to give away.

Zuljita
2011-02-04, 11:16 AM
I have a desktop hooked up to my living room TV, Ive loaded maptool up on it to great effect. Since i have no cash to invest in minis or large printed maps, it gives the game a put together feel without adding expense.

Flickerdart
2011-02-04, 11:17 AM
The only tool you need is a stack of DMGs. For chucking.

Cyrion
2011-02-04, 11:22 AM
My Access database of all of the spells from the books I use. No more having to remember if it's from the Spell Compendium, PH II, Complete...

Zherog
2011-02-04, 11:30 AM
http://rpgmarketplace.com/111190,auction_id,item_watch,option,auction_detail s
Forgot to add this one. +x magic items always seemed very boring to me, and this book helped me create a bunch of character-relevant, interesting items to give away.

I have lots of books from AEG, but not that one. I'll have to pick it up at some point.

Grogmir
2011-02-04, 11:56 AM
I use a intitive tracker - although I like the paperclib on DM screen Idea.
Battlemats
Monster tokens - from Monster Builder.
And a piece of paper and pencil to note what happens.

Apart from that - my no.1 favorite tool is defo the A4 sheet of different names. Cross off as its used. Never worry about the name of that Merchant again!

Tyndmyr
2011-02-04, 01:09 PM
Pretty much what it says in the title. Does anybody have any favorite tools(programs or physical) they use for tabletop gaming?

For hack 'n' slash styled games: The Munchkin Kill'o'meter. Spinning dials tallies the kill count up to 99.

Tetsubo 57
2011-02-04, 01:17 PM
Aurora's Whole Realm's Catalog and The Pocket Ref Guide by Glover. Two books I would never run a fantasy game without.

dsmiles
2011-02-04, 01:17 PM
For hack 'n' slash styled games: The Munchkin Kill'o'meter. Spinning dials tallies the kill count up to 99.This. Is. Awesome! I must order on of these.

arguskos
2011-02-04, 02:13 PM
For those who like Toolbox (an awesome book), allow me to recommend two other books: PC Pearls and GM Gems. (full disclosure: I co-wrote both products.) Both books are similar, in that they have tables, but there's a bit more description behind some of the entries.
Would you mind giving a few more details about these, such as contents, publisher, date of publication, and intended game for use with?

nedz
2011-02-04, 02:35 PM
I have a large collection of figures.
I have a large selection of floorplans, my favourites are the 60'x40 ones of which I have 13 (9 gray, 4 ochre) which I can use as tiles for moving engagements. I also scanned one of the ochre ones so that I can create my own using paintbrush.
Some base templates I made from thick card - large, huge, etc.
Some old roulette counters, in 4 colours, many of which have numbers or letters on: these are used for mooks or some status effects (invis typically).
Some flying bases for ...
Old business cards for initiative tracking.
Smallish postits for secret notes and occasional other uses.
I recently made some doors and 10' long transparent wall sections.
Oh and dice.

Zherog
2011-02-04, 03:13 PM
Would you mind giving a few more details about these, such as contents, publisher, date of publication, and intended game for use with?

Sure. Both are published by Goodman Games. Both are billed as "System Neutral" but were written with fantasy roleplaying games in mind, and even make use of some terminology and such from the SRD. I don't have exact publication dates for these (my copies are at home) but they were roughly around the time 3.5 ended and 4e started. (And, in fact, that's why they were billed as system neutral, because the license info at the time was shaky at best.)

Being away from my book, I'm having difficulty finding some of the "articles" from PC Pearls. My employer blocks a lot of gaming sites - including Goodman Games. This link (http://www.goodman-games.com/4372preview.html) used to go to a free preview of the product, but I can't confirm if it's still actively available or not. When I get home this evening I can post a bit more about details in the book, if you're interested.

Some sample "articles" in GM Gems include:

Alchemical Mishaps
Empty Rooms Worth Describing
Extraordinary Campsites
Short Encounters for Short Attention Spans
100 Pick Pocket Results

And a lot more. Again, I can give more details later if you're still interested. (That list is a sample pulled from the entries on the Paizo store plus my recollection of one of my specific articles.)

Both products are available on Paizo and RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, and both sites have several reviews (last I saw - again RPGNow and DriveThruRPG are also both blocked by my employer, so I can't confirm they're still there). Paizo also has product discussion threads attached to each product, that may provide you more information you find helpful.

If you want even more detail, just let me know and I'll post a good sample of the table of contents from each book this evening.

arguskos
2011-02-04, 03:18 PM
If you want even more detail, just let me know and I'll post a good sample of the table of contents from each book this evening.
I'd appreciate that. I tend to either read the book personally or want very detailed information about it before I buy, just due to being broke as hell. Currently though, they're sounding like stuff I'd be interested in.

Zherog
2011-02-04, 03:25 PM
No sweat - I'll be happy to post it up later, and after that if you have further questions we can take the conversation to PM because while I'm always happy to have a chance to plug a product I've worked on, I also don't want to abuse the opportunity.

edit: Here's the info... (all parentheticals -- except on chapter names -- are mine)

PC Pearls

Authors (other than me): Lou Agresta, Rone Barton, Clinton Boomer, Russell Brown, Liz Courts, Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon, Jonathan Drain, Scott Gable, Tom Ganz, Stephen Greer, Dave Hall, Stefan Happ, Ed Healy, Tim Hitchcock, Michael Kortes, Phil Larwood, Hal Maclean, James MacKenzie, Rob Manning, Greg Oppedisano, Edward Reed, Dave Schwartz, Craig Shackleton, Willie Walsh

Chapter 1: Creating Memorable Characters:

Character Questionnaire (24 questions to help quickly flesh out a background)
What's In a Name? (Tips for developing memorable names)
Fifty Family Units (50 families to quickly describe a character's parents -- or parental figure)
Go, Team Theme, Go! (Pre-generated themed adventuring parties)
Colorful Places of Origin (30 places of origin for your character)
Ties That Bind (tips for tying your character into the GM's world)
Backstories (Seven short backgrounds to help inspire)
Life Without Letters (What does it mean to be illiterate in a fantasy world)
Huh? 13 Ways to Roleplay Illiteracy
Fifty Personality Quirks
Faiths for the Faithless (10 ideas for a godless character)
Every Character is a Biography (Tips and tricks for basing your character on a real-world person)
Out For Revenge (15 reasons to seek vindication)


Chapter 2: The Early Levels (Starting a Campaign)

Twenty Questions for the Captured (questions PCs can ask captured villains to glean useful info)
Organizations by Archetype: Thieves (7 rogue-ish groups for your character)
Organizations by Archetype: Warriors (5 more groups)
Organizations by Archetype: Spell Casters (and 5 more)
I'll Ask Around (12 new sources of information)
Never Leave Home Without Them (9 non-magical items often overlooked in equipment lists)
Luxuries in the Wild (Hirelings to make life in the woods a little easier)
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (10 tips for avoiding nighttime ambushes)
Twenty Distinct Voices (20 examples to create a unique voice for your character)


Chapter 3: The Middle Levels (Playing the Campaign)

Lord Bedlam Havok's Rules of Survival (A humorous list of things your character always does, such as...)
20 Protocols for General Exploring, Pillaging and Looting
12 Protocols for Dungeon Crawls
10 Protocols for Wilderness Survival
6 Protocols for Urban Adventuring
6 Protocols for Doors, Trapped or Otherwise
7 Protocols for Dealing with Non-Essential People and Other Commoners
6 Critical Protocols for Dealing with Your Fellow Party-Members

Ten Unique Mounts
Mommy? 15 Fun Ways to Provide for Humanoid Young ("...there is a humanoid infant before you and it looks hungry. Now what?")
Seriously... What Do We Do About Humanoid Babies (while the previous list was tongue-in-cheek, this one's a bit more serious)
Questioning the Gods (questions to ask a god when you have the chance)
Know Your Role: Multitasking (roles an adventuring party needs to be successful)
How to Stage a Successful Ambush
Paint Me Righteous: 20 Tattoos to Die For
When All Else Fails (strategies for retreat)


Chapter 4: The Higher Levels (Wrapping Up a Campaign)

Splinter Religions (how a player's actions can create a splinter sect within a religion)
Because a Little Metagaming Never Hurt Anyone (humorous look at metagaming)
Off Into the Sunset: Retiring Productively (20 things to do after retiring)



GM Gems

Authors (other than me): Lou Agresta, Rone Barton, Russell Brown, B. Matthew Conklin III, Liz Courts, Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon, Tom Ganz, Stephen Greer, David Hall, Stefan Happ, Ed Healy, Tim Hitchcock, Phillip Larwood, Hal Maclean, Rob Manning, Greg Oppedisano, Greg Ragland, Craig Shackleton, Patrick Smith

Chapter 1: The Urban Experience

Alchemical Mishaps (100 ideas for what to do when the lab explodes)
100 Dockside Events
Local Folktales and the Truth Behind the Myths
Memorable NPC Frills (100 small details of appearance for describing NPCs)
Rites of Passage
Specialty Shops (unique shops, including adventure hooks)
Unique Taverns and Inns
Unusual Holidays (includes adventure hooks)
What's In Those Pockets (100 random pick-pocket results)
Memorable Inns (tables to generate 250 inn names, and guidelines for fleshing it out to make it stand out)


Chapter 2: Getting There is Half the Fun

A New Look at Caravans (unique caravans for the party to join)
Extraordinary Campsites (different places to camp other than "a clearing in the woods" -- includes adventure hooks)
Roadside Ruins (includes descriptions and adventure hooks)
Traveling Merchants (interesting merchants to encounter on the road)
War Torn: On the March ("100 places and events adventurers might come across in a land torn by war")
Weathering the Storm (fantastical weather events to bedevil adventurers)


Chapter 3: The Dungeon

Alternate "Wonders" for the Rod of Wonder (100 entries)
Empty Rooms Worth Describing (100 entries to describe "the empty room" on the map)
Familiar Creatures with Unfamiliar Faces (20 monster variations)
Shake N Bake Creature Features (20 quick and easy abilities to add to a creature to make it different)
Left Behind (abandoned familiars)
New and Unusual Light Sources
The Nose Knows (describing scent to bring an encounter to life)
Noxious Substances
Short Encounters for Short Attention Spans (100 things to do when the players seem bored)
100 Unique treasures

ShriekingDrake
2011-02-05, 11:56 AM
What a great thread!!! Thanks for starting this. These gems are so helpful.

Something we've done expedite play, which I don't think has been mentioned yet, is that we ask players to have each feat, spell (or at least most of them), and magic item printed on an index card (typed or in neat handwriting). These cards are tossed out when the player is casting a spell, using a feat or item, etc. That way, it doesn't involve rummaging through books and really encourages players to plan ahead. For spontaneous casters and those that have spellbooks, this is not hard to do. Characters that can choose from among all printed spells, it may require more on the fly writing/printing. We tend to stick to the prepared spells rules, so the DMs typically ask the prepared spell casters to show their prepared spells to upon preparation. While we all come with packs of index cards, it allows us to carry fewer books and adds a LOT of utility.

Lord Loss
2011-02-05, 08:17 PM
I think I'll get PC Pearls for myself and my players and probably GMing Gems as well, they both look really, really awesome!

TinselCat
2011-02-05, 08:42 PM
While I appreciate the visual effect miniatures have, especially for combat, I don't have any interest in expensive official-looking ones. For the group I DM, we are perfectly happy with Legos. Everyone gets a customized character, and though some monsters are hard to make, I can pull out something random and just describe what's it's supposed to resemble. Although sometimes, like for centaurs, a bit of creativity actually can cobble together something fairly recognizable.

ShriekingDrake
2011-02-15, 08:40 PM
Another thing our group does is that the DM names a leader or "scout master" who has the ability to play characters of the missing players. For continuity purposes, this has worked quite well. I realize that it's not a tool, but it is a useful practice that allows for continuity when someone is at a wedding, etc.

Titanium Fox
2011-02-15, 09:44 PM
My netbook and Dropbox. I have all my DM's notes here, as well as rolled loot, class leveled enemies, PC character sheets, NPC character sheets, etc.

A projector. I use this hooked up to one of the school's desktops, and project an excel spreadsheet onto a white-board. SO easy to keep track of everything that way.